The present invention relates to a spray-on leather-like finish coating for vehicle interior surfaces. More particularly, the present invention relates to a two-step simplified process for using readily available acrylic lacquers in a spray painting composition to provide a leather-like look to a vehicle interior surface.
In recent years, in prototyping and finishing of vehicle surfaces it has been desirable to present suitable alternative coatings to simulate leather looks in dash boards and the like. Such a coating is desirable in that it would be easy to apply and more inexpensive than similar vinyl coated substrates or actual leather. Coatings are desirable in that they can be readily applied to prototypes or final production vehicles as may be desired in particular applications. Additionally, such coatings can find ready use in refinishing dashboard surfaces or other interior surfaces of used vehicles which are being restored. There have been various attempts to create leather-like or other textured surfaces, however, many of these require specific complex ingredients and also require special processing steps such as utilizing various mold forms or mechanical shaping or the like which have textured patterns for imprinting the final texture on a coating. Similarly, while providing a roughed-up type look the coatings do not readily lend themselves to a leather-like look since the coatings formed by these articles have ridges, crinkles and the like between domains rather than leather-like cracks throughout the surface. Thus, these coatings have failed in presenting simplified leather-look coatings.
Examples of some attempts to provide leather-like or other textured surfaces include U.S. Pat. No. 3,904,791 to Iverson et al. and U.S. Pat. No. 3,994,843 to Hickey. The '791 patent to Iverson et al. discloses a method for producing decorative and ornamental articles in simulation of wood grain, leather and the like. This method, however, requires that the coating layer be mechanically furrowed to develop a textured pattern therein in simulation of wood or leather graining, or otherwise disrupted to develop a distinctive pattern. This reference discloses a lacquer as one of several possible coating vehicles used and a flattener admixed in the vehicle to provide a surface variation, however, some type of mechanical manipulation is necessary. The '843 patent to Hickey discloses an aqueous-based coating material to which fillers can be added to alter the texture thereof. In addition, fillers such as decorative flakes or chips are used in the Hickey patent to alter the texture of the coating.
Other patents which disclose coatings for dashboards include U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,734,295 to Liu; 4,806,583 to Battaglia; 4,842,613 to Purser; 4,910,070 to Al'Hariri; and 4,155,769 to Almagro. These patents disclose various coatings for dashboards and the like, but are primarily concerned with reduction of glare and as such, flat type paints are provided.
Prior to the present invention Applicant also is aware that a "Stano-Lac" flattening agent has been known by others to cause some paint finishes to crack. However, such cracking was highly unpredictable and created large cracks between large areas of paint. It is believed that because of these problems, such a finish has found use only in a fishing lure application wherein it is called a "crackle frog" finish because of its frog-like appearance.
Thus, it remains a goal in the vehicle finishing art to produce a leather-like coating which accurately simulates a leather appearance, is easy to apply and does not require external tools or the like for producing desirable results.